


A book to shield my story

by MayBeBrilliant



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: (Best Friends) - Freeform, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Daisy is bi, Deal With It ;), Developing Friendships, ENJOY IT THIS IS FOR YOU BECAUSE I LOVE YOUUU LILY, Especially Daisy, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Grant Ward is an asshole, High School AU, I love her your honour, M/M, May has a dojo, School and studying and shit, Slow Burn, Ward level shit, and everyone at Shield High is a big happy family, but like...not yet - Freeform, but on the upside..Philinda, happy...sometimes ;), her foster parents are utter SHIT though, honestly we stan, it's amazing, like seriously, my tags are a mess, not beta's we die like Kylo Ren fucking shouldn't have, oh well, oh yes last thing, petition to hurl them off the nearest building, slow burn adoption, the Gang(TM) are all total nerds, well big, which is cool
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:26:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27896773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayBeBrilliant/pseuds/MayBeBrilliant
Summary: Daisy Johnson, high school. Loves, (in no particular order), Star Wars, sarcasm, and computers. Hates biology, peanuts, and, come to think of it, people in general.Too bad 'people in general' won't seem to leave her alone.
Relationships: Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie/Yo Yo Rodriguez, Lance Hunter/Bobbi Morse, Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons, Lincoln Campbell/Skye | Daisy Johnson, Phil Coulson & Melinda May & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Phil Coulson/Melinda May, Skye/Daisy Johnson & the GangTM, Victoria Hand/Isabelle Hartley (mentioned)
Comments: 52
Kudos: 63





	1. The New Girl

**Author's Note:**

  * For [daisylincs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/daisylincs/gifts).



> Lily, this was originally supposed to be a short one-shot for the fluff bingo, but since I'm always late, that's done already. I'm gifting you this, because you really, really deserve it, what with you being so insanely busy these days. I really hope you have some time off soon, and I hope this makes you a bit happy. 
> 
> Having said that, this idea surfaced in my brain and wouldn't leave, so you're getting a multichap deal with it. 💙💙💙😂
> 
> Hi everyone! 
> 
> So, this is my first multichap, and I'm really hoping people will like it!
> 
> I have no idea when it'll update, whenever I have time probably. Sorry if that's not regularly my life is messed up and suuuper busy. I have few chapters planned, but it'll probably not be very long. Probably. OK scratch that I literally have no clue.
> 
> It isn't beta'd, so please excuse any mistakes.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Daisy goes to a new school, and meets new people

* * *

The new girl.

That was all anybody was thinking about, why stares turned her way and whispers followed her down the hallways. She was pretty. No, pretty didn't cover it. Gorgeous. At Shield High, new people didn't come in regularly, and when they did, they hardly ever looked like this.

Then there was her mystery.

Who was she?

Where did she come from?

Nobody knew anything about Daisy Johnson. Everyone was curious, but nobody cared enough to find out.

Daisy Johnson, for one, hated being seen like that. Just a trophy to be won, nobody to see her for who she actually was. Who cared what she felt? All anyone wanted to know was why she'd gotten kicked out of her previous school, or if she would date them.

It was sickening.

Everywhere she went, curious eyes followed her, not giving her a moment of peace. She felt like an animal in a zoo, people gawking at her, with no means of escape.

When she got to her first class, maths, the only chair open was right in front of the teacher. With a sigh, she dropped her bag and sat down, opening her textbook. As soon as she was settled in, she felt the now familiar but still annoying feeling of someone staring at her.

She turned around in her seat, a scathing comment ready on her lips. A boy, black hair gelled back perfectly, smirked at her. He was good looking, she supposed, but she wasn’t in the mood to deal with him at the moment. Instead she smiled a tight-lipped smile, and turned back to the teacher, trying to focus.

It wasn’t that she was stupid, quite the contrary. In her previous school, before she’d gotten kicked out, she’d been top of the class in most subjects. (Biology being her weak point.) It was just that she was unnerved by the attention on her. She’d always stood out in some way or another, being an orphan guaranteed that. But this was different. Boys had never looked at her the way Gell-hair had. She wasn’t sure whether to be flattered or scared.

When maths was done, she went to English.

And then French.

And then history.

By the time lunch rolled around, she was sick of people in general. The english teacher, Mr Coulson, had been nice, but that was about it. She was sick of kids whispering behind her back, sick of the stares, sick of being leered at.

Which was why it was a surprise when, after she’d gotten her cafeteria lunch and sat down at a table, a boy came over and introduced himself without trying to look cool.

She appraised him, still slightly suspicious. He was tall, with blonde hair and sky-blue eyes. Her eyes were immediately drawn to his Darth Vader T-shirt.

“You like Star Wars?” she blurted, before she could stop herself.

The boy looked down at his shirt. “Yeah! You too?”

She looked affronted. “Of course!”

“So what’s your name, Star Wars girl?” he asked, grinning. “I’m Lincoln.’’

She was surprised that he didn’t know, giving all the rumours about her circulating around the school.

“I’m Daisy. Daisy Johnson.”

He smiled at her, shaking her offered hand.

“Nice to meet you, Daisy Johnson. Can I sit here?”

Her first instinct was to say no, fend for yourself, don’t let anyone in. Years at the orphanage had taught her that if she let people into her life, she gave them the power to walk out again. But for some reason, this Lincoln person’s honest, open attitude made her reconsider. Maybe it was his love of Star Wars, maybe not.

“Yeah. Yeah, I guess you can.”

He sat down, flashing her a grateful smile. “So, who’s your favourite teacher so far?”

"Oh, definitely Coulson. He reminds me of Obi-Wan."

"English? Yeah, I like him too. And he really does act like Obi-Wan!" Lincoln agreed, laughing. "Just be glad you're on Hand's good side so far, she’s more terrifying than Palpatine."

"Who?" Daisy asked, confused. A hand? What was being on a hand's bad side going to do to her and anyway, did a hand even have a bad side?

"Victoria Hand. Tall, red streaks in her hair, looks like she could kill you? You've probably had your first class with her, she teaches maths. She's the second scariest person in this school." said Lincoln, straight-faced.

When Daisy looked unconvinced, he elaborated.

"School legend has it that she once threw a student out of the window when he tried to flirt with her. People cry in her class, she's so strict." his eyes were wide, with a hint of mischief in their blue depths.

Daisy still wasn't buying it. "Even if that's true, and that's a big if, how is she only the second scariest person here? Who's the first?"

Lincoln looked around furtively, as if he was about to impart a secret.

Daisy found herself leaning forward despite herself.

"Melinda May. The headmistress. She's a black belt in more than one martial art, and if you get sent to her office, it's over for you." here Lincoln frowned, as if not quite believing the stories himself. "Well, that's what people say anyway. She has a glare that can cut through glass, and nobody can keep secrets from her."

Daisy sat back, eyes wide, interest piqued.

"Despite that, we all really look up to her."

"How come?"

A note of pride for his school crept into Lincoln's eyes. "She doesn't take shit from anybody. Once, the headmaster of another school came over and asked how she was in charge, since she was a woman. I think he was from Hydra Education? The poor man, anyway. May gave him such a dressing down, saying that if he thought women shouldn't be allowed to lead, he obviously wasn't ready to himself. The man, Garret, never came back anyhow."

Daisy felt herself warming up to this May person already.

"Tell me more about the other teachers?"

Before Lincoln could go on, a group of people came up to them.

"Hey gorgeous, why are you talking to this nerd?" the boy in front said.

With a shock, Daisy realised why he looked so familiar. It was Gell-hair, the guy who'd sat behind her in maths.

"Come sit with us?" he asked.

Daisy blushed. Here was this guy, obviously popular, asking her to sit with him? How could she say no? Maybe they’d just started off on the wrong foot this morning. It was the first thing that had gone right today, besides Lincoln.

Speaking of Lincoln, she shot him an apologetic look before grabbing her bag and getting up. He gave her a thumbs-up and a proud smile.

She followed Ward to the other side of the cafeteria, a tiny part of her feeling guilty about Lincoln. She shook it off. He had anyway just been joined by a group of people, obviously his friends. He’d be fine. For now she was just going to enjoy her lunch.

Gel-hair took her to a table next to a window, where a bunch of people were sitting. These were definitely the cool kids. Suddenly she felt quite out of place, with her old jeans and plain T-shirt. Gel-hair didn’t seem to mind too much though, beckoning her over and introducing himself.

“I’m Grant Ward. You’re Daisy Johnson, right?”

Daisy looked down. “Yeah, that’s me.”

“Everyone, meet Daisy!” the boy, Grant, told the table.

After lunch, Daisy went to her next class, still slightly flustered. Was Grant flirting with her, or was she imagining it? She wasn’t sure she liked the look of his friends, but he’d been nice to her, he’d actually noticed her.

So as she sat down at a desk, she was a bit hopeful that maybe this school could be good for her.

It was then that she realised she was in biology, her least favourite class of all. She groaned, letting her head fall onto the desk. Why did it have to be biology?

She jumped, feeling a hand on her shoulder. Relaxing when she saw it was Lincoln, she offered him a small smile.

“How did your lunch with Ward go?” he asked teasingly.

“Oh just fabulous, we’re planning a June wedding.” Daisy deadpanned.

Lincoln looked slightly shocked for a second, then burst out laughing. “I think we’ll be good friends.”

To her shock, Daisy found herself agreeing wholeheartedly. Since when did she meet someone and consider them a friend within the first day? It was a strange new feeling, but also nice.

“I actually wanted to ask why you were lying on your desk?”

Lincoln’s voice jolted Daisy back to the present.

“I suck at bio, it’s my worst subject.”

“Really? I might be able to help with that. Not to sound self-inflated, but I’m quite good at it.

Want to come over to study some time?” Lincoln offered.

“That would be great!” Daisy found herself agreeing.

“Do you want my number? That way we can agree on a time.

“Yeah, thanks.” Daisy took his phone, handing it over with her number saved.

The teacher came in at that moment, so they couldn’t talk more, but she felt good about this...friendship. Was he her friend? Yeah, she thought he was. That was nice.

* * *

When she got back to her house that night, (she refused to call it home, it wasn’t) she greeted her foster parents, ate the quickest meal of her life and went up to her room. She was exhausted.

She brushed her teeth, threw on an oversized Gryffindor T-shirt and climbed into the pink bed. Everything in the room was pink. Pink walls, pink carpets, pink pillows, hell even the lamp was pink. She didn’t complain though, because complaining got you sent back to the orphanage.

She opened her phone, scrolling mindlessly through Tumblr for a few moments. Suddenly it buzzed with an incoming text.

At first she couldn’t see who it was from, but then she remembered she’d nicknamed Lincoln’s contact as Sparky because he had little lightning bolts drawn all over his notes in biology. (Apparently he was a Harry Potter fan as well? Who would have thought, someone who was as big of a nerd as her.)

_Sparky: Hey, are you still awake?_

_Daisy: yeah, becuz of you_

_Sparky: Oh I’m sorry, I can leave. I didn’t realise you’d be asleep already_

_Daisy: no its fine, i wasnt sleeping yet_

_Sparky: Are you sure?_

_Daisy: yeah ofc, i wouldnt say so if i wasnt_

_Daisy: so whatcha wanna ask?_

_Sparky: It’s sort of stupid_

_Daisy: oh now im interested_

_Sparky: Fine, it’s this. You know we agreed to study on Wednesday after school? Well, I completely forgot that my friends are coming over that afternoon. Would you be alright with that, or should we reschedule?_

_Daisy: dude its fine, id love to meet your friends_

_Sparky: If you’re sure…_

_Daisy: yeah im sure, see you wednesday then?_

_Sparky: See you Wednesday_

_Daisy: r they interested in star wars as well? 😏_

_Sparky: Yes they are! We’re all completely insane about it, though we do have differing opinions on which ones are the best_

_Daisy: ...wait return of the jedi is the best one right_

_Sparky: YES! Thank you! Hunter keeps saying that episode 4 is better_

_Daisy: *gasp*_

_Sparky: Exactly! Episode 6 has a much better plot, and the character development is just way more thought through_

_Daisy: HELL YESSS_

_Daisy: plus its much funnier so_

_Sparky: it really is_

_Daisy: you forgot to capitalise that😏_

_Sparky: Gasp! No! I shall endeavour never to commit such a grievous sin again_

_Daisy: 😂 😂 😂 click boom_

_Sparky: ?!?!?!?! HAMILTON?!?!?!_

_Daisy: omg YES!_

_Daisy: so so so_

_Sparky: 😱_

_Sparky: So this is what it feels like to match wits_

_Daisy: with someone at your level what the hell is the catch?_

_Sparky: It’s the feeling of freedom_

_Daisy: of seeing the light_

_Sparky: It’s Ben Franklin with the key and the kite_

_Daisy: YOU SEE IT RIGHT?_

_Daisy: omgggggg_

_Sparky: Exactly! I really can’t wait to introduce you to my friends, they’ll love you_

_Daisy: you think so?_

_Sparky: I really do_

_Daisy: well i guess we'll see tomorrow_

_Daisy: i gtg sleep now_

_Sparky: Bye then! And thanks for the Hamilton, I’m really satisfied now😏_

_Daisy: lmaoooo 🤦🤣_

_Daisy: bye 👋_

Daisy put down her phone, smiling. This was a new feeling, this effortless sort of connection with someone, even if it was just about fandoms. She was sure it would lead to a real friendship, which simultaneously terrified and elated her. She could just see where it went, right? If it didn’t work, there was nothing forcing her to be his friend.

In the meantime, she could enjoy it, and who knows? Maybe she’d like his friends as well.


	2. Studying? I thought you said Star Wars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Daisy's shitty foster parents are, well, shitty, and she has a talk with Coulson

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woot it's been like *checks calendar* um... *cringes* AGES (more than a month) since I've updated I'm SO SORRY daslkdjklsajdfds. I've been writing on my Secret Santas, (which are now done, so that's why you all are getting this!) and real life has been really busy. To top that off, I've just gotten a new bby cousin and she is THE LITERAL CUTEST. So. This has taken a backseat to all of that for a while, s o r r y. 
> 
> Then, OH MY GOSH. This thing has over 200 hits already and like almost 30 kudos ALREADY!!?! And it only has one chapter?!?!?!? I can't explain how happy that makes me, it's so weird that you all like my story. But I would die for you all so <333
> 
> But without further ramblings on my part, here's the next chapter!!! Lily, this is a (late) Christmas present to you, I LOVE YOU SO MUCHHHHHH

* * *

The next day, Daisy came down the stairs feeling optimistic, for a change.

"Mrs Plumber?" she called her foster mother. She wouldn't call her 'mom', scared that it might overstep boundaries. Not that the woman would even notice, she hardly realised that Daisy was in the house. Most days, Daisy had to fend for herself when it came to meals.

Besides, it didn't feel right. This woman was definitely not her mother.

"Mrs Plumber? I'm ready to go to school!"

"Fine, go then. You can take the bus."

A bit put out, but refusing to let this get her down, Daisy grabbed a piece of toast and her backpack.

"I'm going to a friend's after school, to study." Daisy tried again.

"Yeah, be back before midnight."

It was clear that Mrs Plumber wasn't really listening to her. Daisy sighed, resigning herself to another ride on the bumpy, sweat-smelling bus.

As she got out in front of the school, Lincoln came running up.

“Hey! Just checking we’re still on for after school, right?” he frowned when he saw her expression. “Is something wrong?”

Daisy shook her head, trying for a smile.

“No, everything’s fine. At your place this afternoon?” She swiftly changed the subject.

Lincoln was still looking at her, concerned, but he nodded. “Yeah, and are you sure you’re OK with my friends being there? They can be a bit much.”

Daisy considered it for a long moment. She was sure it would be fine, for some reason she trusted Lincoln. His friends had looked really nice, she was looking forward to meeting them. And besides, if it really came to that, she had been in a few fights at the orphanage. She’d be fine.

“Yes, I’m sure. See you then?”

“Alright, see you then!”

They split ways, Daisy making her way to history and Lincoln running off to science.

\---

The day went by quite uneventfully after that, until Daisy arrived in her last class, English. Just as Daisy sat down, Mr Coulson came in.

“Alright, everybody here? Daisy Johnson, Grant Ward, Jemma Simmons...Yes, that seems to be all of you.”

Daisy startled as her name was mentioned, but the teacher moved on to other people. She relaxed.

They got on with the class, Daisy gradually warming up to Mr Coulson. He was a good teacher, to start with. He was passionate about his subject, which in turn led to the students wanting to work hard. He was also snarky and took no bullshit from the kids.

When class was over, Daisy made her way to the door along with everyone else.

“Miss Johnson? May I speak to you for a moment?”

Daisy froze as Mr Coulson called her name. What had she done wrong? Adults never wanted to talk to you unless you’d made a mistake. She was sure she’d done everything right in the class, the only thing it could be about was her expulsion from her previous school.

So it was with defiance and a bit of trepidation in her stride that she walked up to the teacher after the rest of the kids had left. She held her head high, ready to accept any punishment or rebuke that might be coming her way.

“Miss Johnson. Daisy, right?”

Daisy nodded tersely, not sure where this was going.

“I wanted to know how you’re fitting in so far. I know your last school was rather rough, and that you got expelled.”

Daisy clenched her hands into fists. Oh yeah, she was right, here it was.

“However, that’s not what I want to talk to you about. At this school, we try hard to tailor the classes to our students’ needs. It’s easier because the school is so small. You’ll see after a while that we’re like a family.”

Daisy couldn’t help herself, she gave a small, bitter snort.

“I see you don’t believe me. That’s alright. Just give us a chance, you’ll see after a while. Can you do that?”

Daisy nodded slowly, a bit confused. What did it matter to him whether or not she enjoyed Shield High? She was bound to get kicked out sooner or later.

She walked away from the class feeling more than a little puzzled, Mr Coulson's thoughtful gaze following her.

He was strange, not like any other adults she'd met. She couldn't get a read on him, which was unusual in itself. He seemed to genuinely want her to be happy and fit in. This whole school was totally different from her last one, much easier and closer knit. It was weird, but in a nice way.

Still lost in her thoughts, Daisy almost bumped into Lincoln.

"Great, I was just looking for you! Are you ready to come study?" he asked.

Jerking herself out of her thoughts, she replied, "Yeah, I'll take the bus there if that's OK? You can just give me the address."

Lincoln frowned. "If you really want to. Otherwise you can just come with me, I've checked with my mom. She says it's fine."

Daisy blinked. "Are you sure?"

He smiled at her. "Of course I'm sure!"

"Alright then." she agreed hesitantly.

The two of them got into the Campbells' old land rover, Daisy shyly greeting Lincoln's mother. She had a kind, tired looking face with glasses, and was wearing a doctor's uniform.

"Hi there Mrs Campbell, I'm Daisy."

"Daisy, it's such a pleasure to meet you! Lincoln has told me so much about you."

Daisy glared at Lincoln, who smiled innocently and raised his hands.

When they got to the house, Daisy hopped out of the car, taking in the sight. It wasn't particularly large, but it immediately gave an impression of comfortable, homely chaos. She caught herself before she could spiral off into thoughts that this is what she could've had, I'd she wasn't an orphan.

Instead she turned her attention to the voices she could hear floating from inside the house.

Turning to Lincoln, she asked, "Are those your friends?"

“Yeah, that’s definitely them, idiots.” he answered with a fond smile at the thought of his friends. “Come on, let’s go inside!” he said. Then he frowned, turning to Daisy. “If you’re sure you’re still OK with that.”

She took a deep breath, preparing herself. “Yeah, I’m good.”

\---

As soon as they got inside, Lincoln’s friends came down from the stairs like a herd of elephants. One of the boys, with curly brown hair and a Scottish accent, asked, “Pikachu! Who’s this?”

Daisy couldn’t keep herself from snorting. Pikachu?! That was _way_ too good not to use. She gave Lincoln a smirk, letting him know that he’d never live this one down. He rolled his eyes back at her with a grin.

Everybody chimed in, waving at Daisy or asking what her name was. She waved back slightly nervously, giving them a small smile.

“OK, everyone could you please shut up for a second?” Lincoln asked his friends, grinning, and carried on when they quieted down slightly. “ _Thank_ you. Alright, this is Daisy. Daisy, meet the gang! This is Deke, and his cousin Fitz. Jemma and Hunter are siblings, and very British so please tease them about it.” he added with a wink, ignoring Jemma’s glare. “Bobbi and Mack are these other two tall ones.”

The group all reacted with various different versions of eye-rolls, glares, _shut-up-Lincoln_ 's and teasing punches at their introductions.

“Hi there Daisy!” The dark-haired girl, (Jemma? She thought it was Jemma, she had a British accent) said after she’d finished glaring at Lincoln. “I suppose you’re here to study?”

Her brother, Hunter, rolled his eyes and groaned. “Really Jem? There’s a new girl and the first thing you talk about is _studying_?”

Daisy, who had decided that she definitely liked this group so far, said, “I _am_ actually here to study. Lincoln said he was good at biology, and I suck at it. Plus we have a test next week and I am _so_ not prepared.”

"Well he is quite good at it, me too. We help the rest of them and they help with other stuff. It's a pretty perfect deal." Jemma told Daisy.

The group trouped up to the living room, sitting down on couches or sprawling on the floor. They started on biology, moving on to CompSci when they were done. Everyone except Daisy groaned when they realised what they had for homework. She cleared her throat. "Uh, I can help with this if you want?"

Hunter jumped up, promptly crushing Daisy in a hug. She froze. "Oh thank god, someone who actually understands that crap. This is my new favourite person, everyone!" Hunter announced, not at all dramatically.

Bobbi tugged Hunter away. "Stop it! You're crushing her!" she reprimanded Hunter, who pouted.

"I was just saying thank you!" he defended himself.

Lincoln intervened from where he was sitting on the coffee table. "OK, we all know where this is going. Hunter, quit squishing Daisy please. And for god's sake you two, _please_ don't start another fight." he added, mock-glaring at Bobbi and Hunter, who grumbled, but went back to ‘studying’.

Daisy offered whatever help she could with the computer science, laughing at Hunter’s total failure to understand it. She, Deke and Fitz were the only ones who really enjoyed it, so they quickly got into a conversation. Fitz and Deke were constantly making her laugh with their bickering, as cousins would do she supposed.

\---

Nobody was studying.

Even Jemma, whom Daisy had immediately realised probably loved homework more than life itself, was sitting listlessly on the couch after about another half-hour, flicking rolled-up balls of paper at Fitz.

They sat in silence for a few more minutes, then Daisy suddenly got an idea. She poked Lincoln, who'd fallen asleep, in the side, hissing, "Lincoln? Pikachu! Sparky, wake up!"

He startled awake upon hearing the nickname, staring groggily at her. "Wassit?"

Daisy gestured to Jemma to help. "Firstly, you're _sleeping_. Secondly, nobody is studying."

Clearly not quite awake, but getting there with Jemma’s constant poking, Lincoln said, "What's the problem then?"

Mack, who's been fairly quiet until now, interrupted. "How about we watch something? You know, just to get our minds back on it. Then we can come back to this." he shot a look at Daisy, as if to check that it was alright with her. Surprised, she gave him a thumbs-up.

Everyone immediately agreed, relieved to get out of having to work. They put the TV on, then got stuck for a while. Nobody seemed to know what to watch, everyone had different opinions. Daisy looked at Lincoln and tilted her head questioningly, face lighting up when he seemed to catch her drift. She got on to the table so that everybody could see her. “Guys! Star Wars!” she shouted into the chaos.

Everyone froze, some halfway through their sentences. Then they loudly agreed that Star Wars was their way to go. The only question was, _which one_ to watch…

After five minutes of (loud, chaotic) arguing, it seemed that they were split into two sides, one voting for episode four and one for episode six. The problem was, they were evenly divided. It seemed to mostly be between Lincoln and Daisy, and Hunter and Jemma. The four of them squared off, facing each other.

“So it has come to this,” Fitz declared, deadly serious. He held out his hands in front of him, Jemma doing the same.

Lincoln nodded solemnly. “So it has.” He motioned to Daisy to do the same as him, mirroring Fitz’s posture. At the same time, he and Fitz said, “Ro-sham-bo!”

Daisy raised a questioning eyebrow, a small laugh escaping her. Playing rock, paper scissors was _not_ how she’d thought they’d solve this, but it did work.

“Yes!” Lincoln exclaimed, seeing he had won. “Return of the Jedi it is!” They all crowded onto the huge couch to watch, with some good-natured grumbling from Fitz, Jemma and Hunter. They were soon completely invested in the episode, all calling out their favourite moments, yelling at the characters, or in some cases (most cases) quoting their favourite lines along with the appropriate scenes. Daisy hardly saw most of the movie, laughing too much to hear it over the chaos.

The time flew by for Daisy, she’d almost forgotten why she was here. It was just so easy to be with this group of people, they all made her feel welcome. Their dynamic was ridiculously easy to fall into, bickering and laughing all the way. They were almost all like siblings, except for Bobbi and Hunter who _seemed_ to be in a relationship, but she wasn’t sure. They cared about each other a lot, she could tell, but they were also so comfortable in everyone else’s presence. She internally thanked Lincoln for inviting her, this was turning out to be one of the best days she’d had in a long, long time.

When the episode was done, they all carried on talking and laughing as if it hadn't ended. Surprised at the ease with which she was relaxing, Daisy internally raised her eyebrows at herself. This was _not_ normal for her. She thought it was probably something to do with Lincoln. All of them really, they were just so _nice_ to her, including her in their group without a second thought.

Just then, Lincoln’s mother came up the stairs, jolting Daisy out of her thoughts. She was probably going to tell them it was time to go home, or maybe that they should be studying, Daisy thought to herself. But, Mrs Campbell surprised her, asking if they all wanted to stay for dinner.

She debated telling the woman she had to go, but then she realised that she really _didn’t_. Mr and Mrs Plumber weren’t even going to _know_ that she wasn’t there, let alone _care_ about it. So, there was really no reason for her not to stay, was there? So she smiled and thanked her, agreeing.

“Alright all of you, dinner will be ready in about fifteen minutes, you all can come set the table so long.” Mrs Campbell said, directing Daisy to the cupboards where the plates were kept. The rest scattered to different places, all taking out cutlery, glasses or placemats, laughing as if they’d done this countless times before.

Which, Daisy supposed, they probably had.

\---

Dinner was the best Daisy had eaten in weeks. Homemade lasagne with some kind of mince that tasted absolutely heavenly. Her mouth watered when Lincoln's mother took the lid off the big dish, the woman smiling as she heaped out hearty portions.

She dug into the food, spluttering on a bite when Fitz pulled such a face at the hot cheese that he sent everyone into fits of laughter. He fanned his tongue, grabbing Hunter’s water to douse the flames in his mouth. When he’d cooled down a bit, he glared around the table. “Alright, I know it was one of you. Who put chili on my food?” he asked accusingly, glancing at each person in turn.

Nobody moved. Fitz narrowed his eyes, zeroing in on Deke. “Alright cuz, I know it was you.”

Deke raised his hands innocently, protesting, “I would have thought it was me too, but it actually wasn’t this time!”

“Well if it wasn’t you, who was it?!” Fitz half-yelled, exasperated.

Finally Jemma couldn’t take it any more, she burst out into laughter. “It was...Me, but I wasn’t...Alone!” she managed to choke out between giggles. She pointed to Daisy, who raised her eyebrows and scoffed.

“You’d betray me like this?” she clasped her hand to her chest dramatically, pretending to look wounded and failing miserably. Her smile was much too large to be contained, pulling the corners of her mouth up against her will.

“Oh, so that’s how it is?” Fitz asked, smiling innocently. He threw his entire glass of water on Jemma, splashing Daisy in the process. Both girls gasped, looking at each other, and laughed in shock. When they’d finished wringing most of the water out of their hair and clothes, they turned to Fitz with identical evil smirks.

He paled, almost knocking over his chair in his hurry to get away. “Wait wait wait!” he pleaded, raising his hands pleadingly. “There’s no need to-” he shrieked when the two girls upended the whole jug of water over his curls.

The rest of the kids were in stitches, egging on the girls. Mrs Campbell just smiled and shook her head, watching the show. It was evident that this wasn’t the first time that something like this had happened.

Everyone finally calmed down after a few more minutes of water and laughter, helping to clear the table, all soaking wet.

\---

When everything was tidied away and all the other kids had left, Lincoln’s mother offered to drive Daisy home. She accepted gratefully, if a bit hesitantly. She still couldn’t quite believe this kindness they were showing her, but she was starting to.

Daisy turned to Lincoln just before she got into the car. “Uh, bye. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow at school?” she asked.

He nodded, grinning at her. “Yeah. Bye!” He waved, walking back up the stairs into the house.

Mrs Campbell dropped her off at the Plumbers’ front door, smiling and telling her to come over any time if she needed it. Daisy grabbed her bag from the back seat, thanking the woman and turning to the door.

She took a breath and knocked. She didn’t have a key, only having been with this family for a few months. It wasn’t late, the Plumbers shouldn’t be asleep yet.

They weren’t.

What they were, was mad. It was all _why did you stay so late?_ and _where were you?_ and _why didn’t you tell us anything? For all we knew you could have run away._

Daisy found herself strangely...Distanced, as if their words weren’t penetrating the protective shell that being at the Campbells’ had formed around here. She felt as if their words lacked their usual bite. In all her seventeen years on this planet, she hadn’t been with a family that felt _right._ (Except for that one time, but no. It didn’t do to think about that. _Don’t_ think about that.) The Plumbers were no different, with their cutting words and pink room.

Tonight, however, it didn’t matter. She had friends, and they couldn’t take that away from her. So she bore their yelling fit calmly, nodding at the appropriate places. Then she went up to the pink room and fell asleep with a smile, of all things, on her face, despite everything they’d just told her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whooooo there we go! Ngl, this one was kind of a bitch to write, especially the study date bc I have to write e v e r y o n e. But yes, I quite like how it turned out! Especially the dinner. Hope you do to <3
> 
> Again, any feedback greatly appreciated


	3. A war is fought

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which pranks ensue, between Brits and Americans. Also, Daisy angst :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whooooo here we go folks! Another one after more than a month! (I've resigned myself to this updating about once a month, unfortunately, I'm just SO insanely busy at the moment, it's not even funny :(. I'll try to update more regularly, but yeah...we'll see.) Gotta admit, inspiration at the moment is very rare. 
> 
> But yes. About the chapter. It has been staring at me from my docs for literal WEEKS and I couldn't write at it because it was being a BITCH. Also, it wasn't supposed to have like half of it in there, but yeah. Brain doesn't listen to *logic*, ever. 
> 
> ANYway, rambling aside, I do have to do a **warning for homophobia** in this chapter, unfortunately it had to be done I'm sorry :(  
> Apart from that though, I think it's not too angsty? You do find out why Daisy is Daisy and not Skye, though, so plus there. 
> 
> OH WAIT I FORGOT THE THING I'VE BEEN WANTING TO SAY FOR AGES ANYWAY so you finally get somebody else's viewpoint! Will not tell you who's, you'll have to find out. :)
> 
> I think that's everything...ENJOY ITTTT *shoves chapter at you and runs*

* * *

The weeks passed by, gradually at first and then blurring together into days of work, learning and people. Lots of people, way more than Daisy was used to. In what seemed like no time at all, two months had passed.

Daisy was fitting in better every day. Well, not fitting in, per se, but she was certainly… Getting to know the rules, the limits. She never fit in perfectly, anywhere, but this was starting to feel pretty damn good. She was starting to trust people, as strange as that sounded in her mind. And adults, at that. The only adults she'd explicitly _trusted_ before then were.. _No. Don't think about that._

Thinking about that only led to trouble, and she didn’t want to ruin the good time she was having at the moment. It was good, after all, even though she’d had her doubts about this place.

But however strange it was, she couldn't deny that she was trusting people, and making genuine friends. Like, for instance, Jemma, Hunter, Fitz, Mack, Deke, and Bobbi. Also, of course, Lincoln.

Then people who weren’t so much friends as...acquaintances, who she hoped could be more. One day, maybe. He did look at her appraisingly when he saw her, and smiled at her. It always made her blush; she wasn’t used to being the center of attention. And Grant was popular, and (she didn’t mind admitting it,) pretty. That wasn’t enough to go on, she knew, but she wouldn't mind getting to know him a bit better.

Lincoln didn’t like him much, but she put that out of her mind. It was probably because of some feud, a while ago, and wouldn’t affect her, or her relationship with either of them.

Speaking of Lincoln, there he was, standing just outside the school gates. She shook her head to get rid of the thoughts, and went over to him. As had become their tradition, they walked into Shield High together, chatting nineteen-to-the-dozen. They went over to the lockers to put down their bags. However, today was to be a little different.

When Daisy came to her locker, right next to Lincoln’s, she stopped in her tracks and stared. Lincoln had much the same reaction, mouth falling open in surprise and then indignation.

Both lockers had been completely covered in British flags, ‘God Save The Queen’ stickers and little ‘Brits are Best’ signs. It seemed that a British tourist had exploded all their purchases straight over the two lockers.

Since there weren’t any British tourists staying in the school, Daisy surmised, it had to be a prank.

Lincoln and Daisy stared at the doors, spluttering in indignation, and then at each other. Daisy raised an eyebrow. “Hunter? He's the only one who would do something so childish. Jemma or Fitz would have more style. Maybe Jemma helped him, but this was definitely Hunter.”

Lincoln nodded decisively. “Hunter.”

“So what are we going to do?” Daisy asked.

Lincoln tilted his head. "Do? You just said it's childish, anything we do would have to be just as bad.”

"Sometimes, Pikachu, there’s only one way to do this. You have to fight fire with fire." Daisy grinned evilly. “And I might have some ideas…”

Lincoln rolled his eyes at the mention of his nickname, but followed his friend regardless.

\---

A few hours later, the two of them sat in homeroom waiting for Jemma and Hunter to come in. The two Brits’ laptops were sitting innocently on their desks, just waiting to be opened. They were trying to look inconspicuous, sitting in the corner, both reading.

After a few minutes, Hunter and Jemma walked in, snickering when they caught sight of Lincoln and Daisy.

“Did you have any trouble with your lockers this morning?” Jemma inquired innocently.

Daisy smiled back angelically. “Oh, none at all, thank you. Why do you ask, did something weird happen?”

Jemma frowned slightly, but quickly smoothed it over with another smile. “Oh, no, I was just wondering, you know?” she said, walking over to Hunter and whispering in her brother’s ear. The siblings looked over quizzically, but opened their respective laptops to begin working.

Daisy and Lincoln exchanged a glance, barely managing to keep the laughter and excitement out of their gazes. Daisy held up three fingers, slowly counting down.

Two.

One.

Right on time-

“What?!”

“Bloody hell!”

Lincoln and Daisy doubled over in laughter as they took in the Brits’ horrified expressions.

Their laptops had been...changed a bit, to say the least. Their screensavers had been switched to huge American flags, and “You’ll Be Back” was blaring loudly from the speakers. A stroke of genius, Daisy didn’t mind admitting.

A few students looked over, puzzled expressions on their faces, before making their way out of the door.

“Make it stop!” Jemma begged, after several failed attempts to shut the music up. Hunter had opted for a more controversial method, closing the laptop and cramming it into his bag. To no avail, the music was still playing.

Daisy laughed helplessly, leaning against Lincoln for support. “I can’t!” she gasped out between giggles.

Getting his laughter mostly under control, Lincoln took over. “You have to type in ‘we surrender’, or it’ll never stop.” he explained helpfully. Just the thought made him burst out laughing again, he held on to Daisy, the two of them almost doubled over.

Hunter looked at his sister, horrified. “We can’t!”

“We have to,” said Jemma. Slowly, reluctantly, she typed in the two little words on her laptop screen, looking as if she was signing a death contract. This just made the two Americans laugh even harder.

Hunter, after several muttered curses and _bloody hell_ ’s, also gave up. The laptops stopped playing the music, though the American flags stayed up as the backgrounds.

They laughed and cursed respectively for a while, before Jemma told the other three that she needed to get home to study. She glared at Hunter until he sighed and rolled his eyes, admitting that he also had work to do. Lincoln chimed in, saying that he and Jemma had a biology study session planned.

Daisy nodded, deciding to stay for a while. There were a few things she still wanted to finish, _after_ messing Hunter’s laptop up a bit more, of course.

Jemma, Hunter and Lincoln left, Daisy waving goodbye and then starting to fiddle with some things on Hunter's laptop. She grinned to herself as she worked, strings of code being swapped around and changed. American lockscreen? Check. Maybe she could change around his folders as well, all she needed was his password. She set her codebreaker working, smiling smugly as it cracked the password in about a minute. ‘Damn the Yanks’, really?

Right at that moment, Headmistress May came in.

Daisy jumped, closing the laptop. Then she immediately cursed herself for that, what could possibly be more suspicious?

May seemed to think the same thing, raising an eyebrow and striding purposefully over to Daisy. “Do you mind telling me what’s going on?” she asked, straight to the point as usual.

“I was coding,” Daisy replied without hesitation. After all, it wasn’t a lie, was it? Sure, not the _whole_ truth, but it was better than outright lying to the headmistress. As she’d learned pretty quickly, almost nothing got past May.

As was now evident. The teacher pursed her lips, taking the laptop and opening it, briefly scanning the program Daisy had open. Then she looked at Daisy, sizing her up, almost appraising. “I’m going to need you to come with me, Miss Johnson.” she said calmly but firmly.

Daisy swallowed, but squared her shoulders and nodded, trying to appear nonchalant. “Sure.”

\---

May rolled her eyes, leading the girl out of the classroom and to her office. Why did Daisy remind her so much of herself? A rebel to the very end, even when she was in trouble, like now. She held her head high, even when she was sure she’d be punished. May admired that, although it was infuriating.

Sarcastic and sassy, definitely.

And, if May’s observing skills weren’t lying,she didn’t have the easiest home life. She guessed that Daisy was adopted, it was in the way she held herself, interacted with other students. She was worried for this girl, it didn’t look like she was coping too well at home. Not that May could prove it, or anything, but there was something about her fake smile when she got to school in the mornings.

She had to do something about it, although she wasn’t sure why she was compelled to do so. Maybe it was just because Daisy reminded her so much of a younger version of herself, but she felt obliged to help her, in whatever way she could.

The kid was also obviously smart, though she tried to hide it, especially with computers. Not bad in history and maths, either. She actually had to look into getting her into a better coding course, this kid was obviously way out of the normal league.

Yes, May had been watching Daisy quite a bit.

And she didn’t know what had happened in her previous school, but she was determined to find out. Every time someone would mention it, the girl would stiffen and she would get a faraway look in her eyes.

Curious and worried did not make such a good combination, May thought. Because now she was too curious to let it go, but too worried to dig deep into whatever was going on. All she could do was a little experiment, to see how Daisy reacted to certain things.

And maybe, she could find out what was wrong.

Maybe, she could help her.

So she sat the girl down in her office, and started to ask questions.

\---

Daisy walked all the way to May’s office with worry churning in her stomach. She hid it well though, walking right next to May and keeping her face carefully indifferent. She hoped, with everything she had, that the headmistress wasn’t about to call her parents. They would throw a fit.

It wasn’t as if she hadn’t met the headmistress yet, she’d talked to her numerous times and ran into her outside classes a few times. From what she could see, May actually had a really good way of running a school, even if it was a strict one.

Daisy sat down across from the headmistress in a surprisingly comfortable chair, crossing her legs underneath her.

“So, Daisy. I assume you don’t want to tell me exactly what you were doing with that laptop?” May asked, leaning back in her chair.

Daisy shook her head.

`Nodding, May pulled her phone from her pocket. “I’m going to have to call your parents.”

Daisy tensed. Anyone not familiar with body language would have missed it, but May saw. She’d hit a nerve. “I don’t think you really need to,” Daisy said with forced calm.

“Unfortunately I do, it’s school protocol.” May told her. She then dialed a number, lifting the phone to her ear.

Daisy’s dropped her fake calm facade, lunging desperately for the phone. “No, please! Please don’t call them!”

May paused with the phone halfway to her ear. She slowly lowered it, staring intently at the student in front of her. “Do you want to tell me why you’re so scared of them?”

“I’m not-” Daisy started, and then went quiet at May’s stare. She opened her mouth to say something, but the words stuck in her mouth. She looked away, taking a deep breath. When she faced May again, there was a determination in her eyes. “I-I’m adopted.” she said quietly, the words lifting a huge weight from her chest as she said them.

May nodded. “I know.” she said just as softly.

It was as if those words triggered something in Daisy, she started talking, the words flooding out and not stopping. She looked horrified, but also relieved, so relieved, at finally telling someone. “They’re...foster parents. I can’t do anything while I’m there. Not even _talk_. I don’t want to live with them but I legally have to. They’re not my...real parents.” she said, all in a rush. The pain in her eyes at the last two words was so evident that May instinctively put a hand on her shoulder.

Daisy blinked, starting to talk again in a flat, emotionless tone. “I had real parents. I did. When I was twelve they came to the orphanage and took me home, told me what my real name was. I used to be Skye. They thought they’d lost me, they were so happy to find me again.” Daisy paused, laughing bitterly. “It was the best year of my life, until my mom and dad started fighting. We were on a highway. My dad wasn’t looking where he was going…” She stopped, glancing over at May, eyes empty. “Well. You can guess what happened. I was sent back to the orphanage.”

May had frozen at the bleak recounting of Daisy’s childhood. Now, she moved again, getting up and kneeling on the floor next to Daisy’s chair, putting both her hands on the girl’s arms. Daisy promptly pushed away the chair and collapsed to the floor, sitting next to May. “You don’t have to talk about if you don’t-” she started, but Daisy wasn’t finished.

“Three years later I got adopted again. It should have been good. But they sent me to a school…” The small flash of panic and defiance in Daisy’s eyes told May everything she needed to know. “Conservative,” the girl spat out. “All white girls, they didn’t like me from the moment I got there. Because of my _skin_. Of course, they expelled me as soon as they found out I was bi. My foster parents were furious. They told me it was a disease.”

May’s grip tightened on Daisy’s shoulders, and the girl stopped, horrified, realising she’d let that slip. “You don’t think that’s right?” The shock on her features transformed into anger. “I should have _known_ this stupid school was too good to be true, of _course_ you’d be just like them.” She pulled away from May.

But the headmistress kept her there, fury in her eyes. “That _fucking_ school. How _dare they_?!” She didn’t raise her voice, but it was tight with emotion.

Daisy jolted, shocked for a number of reasons. She’d never heard the headmistress swear, it was basically unheard of. And she was...on her side? It didn’t seem like she was angry at Daisy, more at the school. Which meant...

May stared intently at the girl. “If I _ever_ let you go back there, you can assume I’ve been killed. There is nothing wrong with being bisexual, _nothing_. In fact, it’s natural. You hear me? Anyone who tells you otherwise can _go to hell_ and I will personally see them out the door.” she declared, still not raising her voice. Her emotion was all the clearer for it.

Daisy blinked once, slowly, and then again. “You...you’re _not_ like them?” she asked hesitantly. “And you’re not making me go back.” She let out a huge, infinitely relieved sigh.

May shook her head. “No. Never.” she said vehemently.

“Okay.” Daisy said, and nodded. “Thank you.” Then she seemed to collapse, leaning against May and letting the pent up tears out.

May’s arms hesitantly went around the girl, she hugged her tightly, stroking her hair with one hand. “Shhh, it’s going to be alright.” she whispered. She couldn’t remember when last she’d hugged a child, like this. It felt...right, in some inexplicable way.

After about a minute of silent crying, Daisy’s tears started to dry up and she curled up closer to May on the carpet.

“Daisy?” May said softly. This seemed to jolt Daisy out of her daze, she shook her head and tried to get up. May just hugged her tighter, until Daisy stopped struggling and hesitantly put her arms around the woman.

“What were you going to say?” she asked, after a little while.

May flipped her hair out of her face, considering how to phrase her question. “I have an afterschool dojo. If you’d like to come...see how it looks, say, in a few days, for an hour or two, I wouldn’t ask you to pay anything. And your parents don’t need to know about this, you’ll only do it two or three times a week. If you’re interested?”

Daisy’s eyebrows almost rose into her hairline. “You’re...offering to teach me how to fight, for _free_? That is _so cool_.”

May gave her a tiny smirk. “I never said those words, did I?”

Grinning back, Daisy said, “Yeah, I didn’t hear anything. I’d love to come see how it _looks_ at the dojo.”

“I’ll see you after school on Thursday then.” May confirmed. Daisy nodded and made for the door. “And, Daisy?” The girl stopped half way through opening the door, turning back. “I’ll see what I can do about the foster parents.” she said quietly.

Daisy stood still for a second, then quickly nodded and left the office.

\---

Still in a daze, she found her feet taking her to Lincoln’s house. She knocked on the door, only realising what she was doing when Lincoln actually opened it.

He broke out into a grin when he saw her. “Daisy!” Then his smile dropped as he looked more closely, taking in her expression and the tear tracts still on her face. “What happened? Come in.”

She did, following him up to the lounge. He made coffee, the two of them sitting down on the couch once they each had a steaming mug.

“Alright. What’s wrong?” Lincoln asked.

Daisy hesitated. “It’s...I got caught by May when I was coding Hunter’s computer.” That felt like a lifetime ago, even though in reality it had only been about an hour.

Lincoln did what Daisy liked to call his ‘shocked Pikachu face’. “Are you kidding? But why are you like, well, _this_ then?” he asked, gesturing to Daisy’s tear-stained cheeks.

She took a deep breath, and then the whole story came pouring forth. Lincoln listened, first in shock, then in anger, and sympathy. Finally, he leaned back against the couch in horror, coffee long forgotten.

“Daisy, I had no idea..” he started.

She raised her hand placatingly. “It’s not your fault. I never told you.”

He nodded pensively. “Still, I’m so sorry. You know if you ever need to, you can come stay here, right? I mean, the guest room might be a bit full of the gang’s things, but there should be room for you to stay.” he said nervously. “If you ever want to.”

Her eyes widened. “Do you mean it?”

“You don’t have to sleep, you can just come over, or something…” he trailed off, hearing her question. “Of course.”

She nodded, squeezing her eyes shut to stop the tears, smiling regardless.

“That’s what friends are for.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was chapter 3 :) 
> 
> Thoughts? Random words? I'd love to hear all of them!!! <3 seriously all your comments make my day
> 
> If you want, come talk to me on [Tumblr](https://maybebrilliant.tumblr.com), I swear I'm nice! Awkward, but nice.


	4. Of some fights, also seafood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Daisy is confused, May punches people, and Coulson is a supportive dork.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES HEY WHAT'S UP I'M NOT DEAD ARE YOU SURPRISED? my stupid depressed sleep-deprived brain finally managed to let me write!!!
> 
> anyway, how's everyone been? i don't have much to say because i have slept WAY too little and school is SHIT, but yeah, here is chapter!! It features a lot of FamilyTM that are not actually Family bonding. Not so much of the other kids though...well. We need all the Philindaisy love. Oh, also, CANON REFERENCES because *sneezes in dork* :)
> 
> so yeah...*runs* i hope you all like it!!!

* * *

This was ridiculous. How many times, only in this _week_ , had he yelled at her to repack the kitchen cabinet? Did he suppose she had time to waste on doing a chore he could just as well do himself? Besides, it was the weekend now, and she still had homework to get to.

Daisy sighed and tried her best to blank out her adopted father’s grating voice. She zoned out completely, thinking about her history assignment due for Friday, and the movie binge she and Jemma were planning. Maybe Mission Impossible? Or otherwise-

Suddenly she came back to the present, harshly yanked out of her thoughts by a particularly loud exclamation from Mr Plumber. “...Are you even listening to me, you brat? If you want to continue living in this house, you’ll have to learn to be at least somewhat useful. You can’t keep living here, eating our food, without lifting a finger!” he yelled.

Daisy almost gasped at the unfairness of his accusation. She’d been doing basically _all_ the housework since she’d moved in with the Plumbers, and here he was, telling her to work _more_?! It was ridiculous, that’s what it was. She felt just about ready to yell at him, tell him _exactly_ what she thought about his way of running the household. But on the other hand...she didn’t want to go back to the orphanage.

So she kept silent, nodded, and left when it was clear he’d finished.

As soon as Daisy got to the relative quiet of her room, she picked up one of the ridiculous pink books and hurled it as hard as she could at the wall. She grabbed another, the another, only stopping when they were all lying in sad heaps on the floor. She stood over them, chest heaving.

Stomping over to her bed, she flopped down listlessly. All the anger had left, being replaced by hopelessness. What could she do? They were going to send her back. She needed some way to let out her pent-up anger and stress.

Suddenly she sat upright, almost hitting her head on the bookshelf. Well, _that_ was a good idea. May did say she could go any time she wanted, and it was Saturday, so she should be there…

\---

About ten minutes later, Daisy slunk out of the house via the back door. The Plumbers wouldn’t know she was gone, they were busy watching some stupid sitcom in the livingroom.

She pulled up the cap of her black hoodie. People would probably think she was trying to steal something, a lone teenager dressed in black on a Saturday afternoon. She walked the five or so blocks to where May had told her the dojo was.

Daisy rang the buzzer outside, and waited. The place had a no-nonsense, minimalistic look about it. Distinctly Chinese in it’s appearance, (which she appreciated), it had ‘May’s Dojo’ written above the door in sleek black letters, with an artful red dragon curling above it.

Daisy was so busy admiring the place that she almost didn’t notice someone coming out a back door. Seeing a dark shape moving out of the corner of her eye, she whirled around, just in time to duck a kick swinging her way. She turned on her heel by habit, throwing a lightning-fast punch in the figure’s direction. This was blocked with an expert move, another strike coming Daisy’s way. She let instinct guide her, stepping under it and landing a blow to the person’s side.

Whoever it was didn’t even grunt, just effortlessly moved out of the way, kicking Daisy’s legs out from under her in the process.

In a blur, Daisy found herself pinned. Her arm was held behind her back in a vise-like grip, quicker than she could realise what was going on. She heard the approval in May’s voice. “You have good reflexes, kid. I can teach you proper forms, and you’ll do great.”

The hold on her arm relaxed, and Daisy turned to find May smirking down at her.

“ _May?_ ” she asked incredulously, rubbing her arm. “Why the _hell_ did you do that?”

The woman’s smirk widened. “I wanted to see if you were any good.” she explained. “You are, by the way. You’ve got the first rule down already; always be ready for a fight.”

Daisy raised an eyebrow, understanding dawning. She then nodded her head determinedly. “Teach me to be better.”

May opened the doors, beckoning to Daisy to follow her inside.

\---

The atmosphere inside May’s Dojo was at the same time welcoming and strict. The floor was covered in mats, a changing room to one side. Daisy got the feeling that nothing would be wasted here, be it effort or time.

There were punching bags and other equipment in one corner, the rest of the dojo an open sparring area.

May inclined her head. “The first thing you need to know about my dojo is that it’s not like others. The martial art you will learn here is not simply one thing; it’s a mixture of different arts put together for optimal use.”

Daisy nodded, interest piqued. “So how many different martial arts do you have here?”

“Taekwondo, Aikido, some Jujitsu, a little bit of Judo and Karate, and some things that I’ve adapted myself.” May replied, busy taking boxing gloves out of a rack next to the changing room. She passed a pair to Daisy, indicating that she should put them on.

The girl did so, following May over to the punching bags.

May held up her hands in a relaxed, open stance. “Alright, I’ll hand it to you, you can fight.” she said, and Daisy glowed with the praise, not used to it. “However, you’ll be a _lot_ better if you know the correct forms.” May continued. She demonstrated, Daisy watching closely.

“See, your hand doesn’t just punch. You have to feel it with your entire body, let your breath flow out and direct your fist.” May explained. “Yes, good!”

The hours blurred together; Daisy hardly realised time was passing. It was so _freeing_ , to let out her emotions, to concentrate on nothing but her next move. And she was _good_ at this, she _knew_ it. It was evident in May’s small, satisfied smile when she did something really well, in the way everything came naturally.

Daisy was so focused on her training that she only saw the man once he was inside. She tensed, trying to slow her breath. Looking over to May for guidance, she saw the woman going over to the other side of the dojo.

Immediately, Daisy relaxed. She could see the man’s face now; it was Coulson. What was he doing here? She waved, and he grinned and nodded back.

May came back over to Daisy, smiling. “I’m sorry, I’d forgotten that I’d told Phil we could go to dinner tonight. Wanna come with?”

Daisy blinked. “I- I’m sorry, _what?_ ” That question was confusing in more than one way. Firstly, it seemed that Coulson and May were...involved? Enough to go to dinner together, at least. Daisy couldn’t help the smug spark of joy she felt at that, she’d _known_ there was something there. But secondly, and more importantly, they wanted _her_ to go with?

“Do you want to come have dinner with us?” May repeated. “We're going to a favourite restaurant of ours, the Tahiti Cafe.”

“Uh, I mean, yes! Yeah, I’d love that.” Daisy told her. She reached for her phone to let the Plumbers know where she was, but hesitated. They wouldn’t notice she was gone. They were going out tonight; usually she’d just stay at home and watch Netflix.

She left her phone in her pocket.

Coulson smiled as Daisy jogged over to them. “Have you let your parents know you’re coming?”

May subtly nudged Coulson in the side, and he looked over at her quizzically. An unspoken conversation seemed to pass between them, understanding dawning on Coulson’s face. He turned back to the girl. “Let’s go!”

Daisy glanced over thankfully at May, who gave an almost imperceptible nod and a tiny smile.

The three of them walked out of the dojo together, May locking up after them.

Daisy lifted her eyebrows at the red Corvette. Coulson just laughed and opened the back door for her. “I’m somewhat of a collector,” he explained sheepishly.

“This is _so coo_ l!” Daisy exclaimed, running her hand over the leather seats.

Coulson nodded, eyes shining. “She really is, isn’t she? Her name’s Lola.” he said proudly, pulling away into the traffic.

“Lola?” Daisy repeated. “ _Wow._ ”

“If you want, you can come over sometime and I can tell you more about her?” Coulson asked, glancing over in the rearview mirror.

Daisy nodded excitedly, eyes shining.

May punched the teacher in the leg. “Eyes on the road, Phil,” she deadpanned.

He shot her a wounded look, rubbing his knee. “Ow! Mel, you’re not allowed to punch the driver!” he complained.

Daisy just laughed silently in the backseat.

\---

They got out at the Tahiti Cafe about twenty minutes later. Daisy was still giggling from Coulson and May’s teasing banter in the car. They _needed_ to get together, if they weren’t already. She was notoriously good at setting people up…

Hesitating for a second outside, Daisy thought. Did she want to go with them? Did she trust them? But then she thought back to a few days ago, when May had sat on the floor with her, held her, comforted her. She thought back to Coulson accepting her into the school, regardless of where she’d come from.

She followed them in.

Inside, the cafe was decorated in a light, pleasing shade of blue, with paintings of oceans and palm trees on all the walls. There were only about fifteen tables altogether. It felt instantly comfortable and homely, like you could spend a whole day in here.

May headed straight for a corner booth, next to a window. It _did_ seem like she and Coulson came here often, Daisy thought smugly to herself. A tall waiter brought them menus with a friendly smile.

“As you might have guessed, the place specialises in seafood.” Coulson told Daisy. “I would advise the prawns, they’re _really_ good.”

May scoffed. “Don’t listen to him, take the oysters.”

Daisy dissolved into another fit of giggles at Coulson’t dramatically horrified shudder. “They’re _alive_ , Mel. Alive! And they look like...like _sneezes_.”

In the end she decided on a calamari wrap. As soon as the waiter had taken their orders, Daisy leaned forward on her elbows, grinning. “So, you two?”

Coulson and May exchanged a glance, which made Daisy all the more sure she was right.

“Us two?” Coulson asked innocently.

“What do you mean, _us two_?” May added.

Daisy _almost_ believed them, their poker faces were really good. But…

“We’re not secretly dating, if that’s what you’re thinking.” Coulson said.

Daisy frowned. She’d been _so sure_ that was what it was!

“Just dating?” she tried hopefully.

May shook her head, and for the life of her Daisy couldn’t figure out why she was almost laughing. Coulson, as well, was struggling to keep the smile off his face.

“There _has_ to be something there, come on!” Daisy begged, pouting at them with her best puppy eyes.

The two adults finally gave in, grinning as they said together, “We’re married!”

Even May burst into laughter at Daisy’s utterly shocked expression. She spluttered, eyes huge. “You- I- _what?_ You’re _what now?!”_ she managed finally.

May snorted. “Now _that_ made it all worth it.

Daisy was still in disbelief. “But...but you don’t wear wedding rings!” she pointed out.

Coulson nodded. “We don’t particularly want everyone to interfere with our business. Plus, it would make it really hard for Mel to punch things.” he teased.

Slowly, Daisy’s shocked expression morphed into one of smug triumph. “I was right though!”

“You were, you were,” May conceded, still grinning.

Just then, the food arrived. Daisy accepted hers with a smile, digging in along with the two adults. Her eyes widened as she tasted it. “This is _really good!_ ”

Coulson grinned, wolfing down a prawn, ignoring May’s eye roll as she delicately ate her oysters. “I’m glad you think so! We love it too.” he said.

“So, how did you two meet?” Daisy asked around a mouthful of calamari.

May glanced over at Coulson, humour sparking in her eyes. “Well…”

“Okay, it’s not really that interesting,” May conceded when Daisy stopped eating, glancing between the two of them. “There was this Captain America convention, and dork over here went.” she said, pointing over at Coulson. “I was security.”

Daisy stared. “You have _got_ to be kidding me. A _Captain America convention?!_ ”

Coulson blushed sheepishly. “What? He’s cool, okay!” he defended. “Plus, it’s not nearly as interesting as how Vic and Izzy met.”

“Vic and Izzy as in...Victoria Hand?” Daisy asked incredulously. “Also, who’s Izzy?”

“Her girlfriend,” May said, completely straight-faced.

Daisy almost choked on the sip of water she’d just taken. “Her _girlfriend?!_ I swear next you’re gonna tell me that you’re both secret agents or something.”

Coulson put his hand on Daisy’s shoulder, dead serious. “Daisy, there’s something I have to tell- _oof_!”

May smirked as her husband rubbed his shoulder and scowled at her. “Mel, you have _got_ to stop doing that.”

“Okay, I am living for this married bickering, but how did Professor Hand and her girlfriend meet?” Daisy asked, finishing up her dinner.

“Izzy, Isabelle, is in the army. Best shot I ever saw, though she doesn’t like using guns.” May started.

Coulson took over from his wife. “So, there was this convention at Shield High, we were releasing a new program that some of our brightest students had written. Someone, as a joke, took a paintball gun and started firing at the students. One kid thought it was a real gun, and called the police. Izzy came charging over, almost arrested the kid, before Vic marched up to her and confronted her. Well, they had a huge fight, and they didn’t tell us they were dating until eleven months later.” he finished indignantly. “Eleven months! And we’d all had bets!”

Daisy laughed, like she’d been doing so much more often than usual today.

May shook her head with a mixture of exasperation and fondness. “Oh, well, we love them both. What do you want for desert, Daisy?”

The girl grinned delightedly, flipping through the menu. In doing so, she managed to catch a glimpse of the time displayed on the big clock next to the door. “Shit. _Shit_!” she exclaimed.

Coulson immediately put his hand on her shoulder, concerned. “Daisy, what’s wrong?”

“The Plumbers are going to kill me! They don’t know I’m here.” she confessed quietly, digging her hands into her hair.

“Well...who’s to say you were here? You know, that exam at school took really long. And we needed you for extra coding help!” Coulson said slowly.

Daisy lifted her head. “I- I mean...thank you. Thank you!”

They did have desert, after all. Daisy felt more at home here, in this cafe, with these two people, than she ever had with the Plumbers. She somehow just _trusted_ them, going as far as to ask, “Do you think I should talk to Professor Hand about...about being bi?”

May smiled at her, and Daisy could _swear_ the look in her eyes was almost motherly, for lack of a better word. “Yeah. I think you should.”

When they were finally finished, May and Coulson drove Daisy home. She got out, glancing back at them worriedly. May gave her a small, reassuring nod, walking up to the steps with her.

She knocked smartly, stepping back as an annoyed Mr Plumber opened the door.

“Yes, what?” he asked irritably. Then he saw his adopted daughter. “Where the hell were you?”

May broke in coldly. “We needed her at school, she helped us write some of our new programs."

“Yeah, well, whatever. Thank you, I suppose.” He took Daisy by the arm. “Come inside, then.” He shut the door.

May didn’t miss the smile Daisy aimed at her though, or the whispered _thank you_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thoughts? 🥺


	5. When it all (starts to) fall down, don't worry we have your back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Daisy has a run-in with her foster parents, (or, rather, a run- _out_ ), Coulson and May are ParentsTM, and The Girls go on a ladies night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have...nothing to say for myself.   
> Sorry???   
> Don't kill me pleeeaaaase, I did bring you a new chapter! (Finally)   
> *Shows you chapter while backing up slowly*

* * *

The Friday morning, almost a week after she’d gone out with Coulson and May, Daisy woke up slowly. She grumpily switched off her alarm, snuggling deeper into her pink covers. Ignoring the insistent beeps of the clock, she managed another blissful half-hour of sleep.

She got up reluctantly, dressed and did her morning routine as usual. It was only once she came out of the shower, a towel around her head, that she noticed the abnormal quiet.

Normally by this time Mrs Plumber would be in the kitchen, making breakfast, while Mr Plumber read the newspaper. (Daisy found it hilarious that he still did that; he was one of those people that wouldn’t accept the ease of technology.)

This morning, however, there were no sounds coming from downstairs. Maybe they weren’t awake yet? It was unlikely, both of them were creatures of habit, but surely there was a chance.

Frowning, Daisy finished towelling off her hair, throwing on cuffed jeans, sneakers with mismatched laces, and her old, well-worn Harry Potter sweater that she’d had since she was 12. (It still fit, remarkably, it had been huge on her slim frame when she’d first gotten it, swamping her completely. She still remembered, so clearly, her father buying it for her birthday, and getting the size all wrong. They’d laughed about it, then, she and her mother and her father. It felt comforting now.)

She crept hesitantly down the stairs, unable to shake the feeling that something was horribly wrong.

“Mrs Plumber? Mr Plumber?” she called, reaching the bottom of the staircase.

No reply.

Starting to get really worried now, Daisy walked quickly to the kitchen. “Mrs Plumber!” she called, more loudly now. Again, nobody answered. She ran to the living room, but they weren’t there either.

She stood in the middle of the empty house, forcing herself to breathe deeply. Hugging her arms around herself, she buried her nose in the familiar material of her sweater. Real panic was setting in, but she couldn’t allow herself to give in to that. She hadn’t checked their room yet. If they weren’t there, she could just call them. It was, after all, the 21st century, and why hadn’t she just checked her phone first?

Feeling better (though a little annoyed at herself) after her internal pep talk, Daisy entered their room. As she’d expected, the Plumbers weren’t there. She quelled the fear rising up in her and took her phone out of her pocket.

Relief and annoyance alike swooped through her as she saw the message (not a Whatsapp, of course) from Mrs Plumber, though both quickly drained out of her as she saw what it read. _Daisy. We will be gone for the weekend, back on Tuesday. Money in the cupboard behind the sink. Don’t do anything rash._

And that was it. No warning, no instructions, just this short message. Daisy felt anger rise up this time, pushing the panic and relief aside. They just went away, without telling her beforehand? And they didn’t even bother to say a simple _stay safe_ , or anything of that sort. They just _left_.

She stood in the master bedroom, alone in the big house, clutching her phone in her hand. It was all well and good, the Plumbers leaving her money and going away. But how was she supposed to look after the house, or get to the shops, or go out by herself?

It wasn’t as if she’d never been alone before, _quite_ the contrary. But it was different when you were in someone else’s house, and you weren’t allowed to use or damage everything there.

There was an idea nagging at the back of Daisy’s mind, but she pushed it down. Surely they wouldn’t...but what if they _did_?

She paced around the room, trying to decide what to do. Several times, she opened her phone, only to close it again.

Finally, she scraped up the courage, dialling May’s number. She picked up on the third ring, greeting Daisy warmly.

“Hi, yes, Mrs May?” Daisy fidgeted nervously with the sleeves of her sweater. “Uh, I was wondering if, maybe, well, uh, I could come stay with you this weekend?” The last part came out all in a rush, and Daisy squeezed her eyes shut, hoping.

There was a short silence on the other end of the phone, and Daisy’s heart sank. Of course they wouldn’t want her there, they’d only known her for a few months! May would probably think she was some creep now, or worse-

_“Of course you can come stay here, for as long as you like.”_

Daisy let out a long breath, smiling quickly before answering, “Thank you Mrs May, thank you _so_ much.”

_“Do you want to tell me why?”_ May asked, and her voice was gentle, as if she half-knew the answer already.

Daisy took a deep breath, and then the whole thing came pouring forth.

When she was done explaining, there was another silence from May. Then, _“I’m coming to pick you up immediately.”_

Daisy nodded gratefully, before remembering that May wasn’t there to see it. “Thank you.” she said instead.

\---

After packing a backpack and leaving a note for the Plumbers, Daisy sat on the front steps waiting for May and stressing.

It felt like too much to ask. It _definitely_ was. Asking two adults you’d known for a few months to stay with them wasn’t normal, was it?

But Mrs May had said yes. Maybe that meant...maybe they were okay with it? It was possible that they didn’t hate her, just strange.

Daisy was saved from further musings by May and Coulson pulling up in Lola.

Daisy stood up quickly, nervously pulling her backpack’s strap over her shoulder. Coulson came over and hugged her, to her surprise. Her eyes widened, and she panicked for a second before relaxing and hesitantly hugging him back.

When he pulled back, she smiled unsurely. “Hey, Mr Coulson. Mrs May.”

May nodded. “Daisy. Are you packed?”

When Daisy confirmed she was, May held open the back door for her. “Alright, I guess we can leave then.”

Daisy watched the house grow smaller out of the rearview mirror, and didn’t feel any regret. She was so grateful to May for not bringing up the reason why she was going with them. It was so like her, to quietly support but not ask questions, and Daisy was coming to love that about her.

It felt almost like something a- but no.

As they arrived at the house, Daisy was immediately struck by how nice it was. Not so different from the Plumbers’ residence, but it was somehow lighter, more homely. More _lived_ in.

Coulson trotted up the stairs and unlocked the front door, showing Daisy in. She laughed in delighted surprise at the huge Captain America poster hung up on one wall.

Everything inside was done up in shades of warm brown, with red, white and blue everywhere from all the Captain America things lying around. Daisy felt comforted, just being inside.

“Daisy?”

She startled at her name, turning to May. “Would you like to see your room?”

Daisy nodded eagerly, following May up the wooden stairs.

The room wasn’t huge, but it was spacious, with big windows and, to Daisy’s delight, a window seat. The single bed was made up with a quilt, and there was an old wooden cupboard standing on the soft rug. Light beige curtains, and a door leading into a small bathroom.

Daisy turned in a circle, taking it in, before spontaneously hugging May. “Thank you so much,” she mumbled, stepping back self-consciously.

May smiled one of her rare, gentle smiles. “I’ll leave you to unpack, then.”

Daisy left her backpack mostly full, only taking out her schoolbooks and phone and stacking them haphazardly on the floor. Just then, the phone buzzed with an incoming text.

It was Bobbi, on her, Daisy and Jemma’s group.

_Mockingbird: hey, Rockstar, you up for Ladies Night?_

_In-my-element: Come on, Dais, it’ll be fun!_

_In-my-element: Besides, you need the relaxation_

_Mockingbird: yeah come oooonnnn we miss you! 🥺_

_The Baby: alright, alright, i’m in! I’ll just hear if I can come_

Daisy put down her phone with a grin. Ladies Night (or the two they’d had so far) with Jemma and Bobbi was always the _best_. Now she just needed to hear if Coulson and May would allow it; the Plumbers were never happy about it.

As if on cue, May came up the stairs. Daisy jumped off the bed, standing at the door.

May raised an eyebrow, waiting, until Daisy spoke. “Uh, I’m sorry, but Jemma and Bobbi invited me for ladies night. Is it okay if I go?”

“Why are you apologising?” May asked quietly.

“Well, I...I just got here, I guess, so I thought you wouldn’t like it?”

May stared at Daisy for a long moment before seemingly coming to a decision. “Well, if you’re going to go, we need an outfit.”

Daisy followed her, surprised, to the main bedroom, where May dug out an old trunk. “These used to be mine, when I was about your age.” she explained. Eyeing Daisy critically, she tossed aside the dresses. Daisy raised her eyebrows in delighted surprise.

The two of them rifled through the trunk for a while, finally coming up with tight-fitting dress pants, a crisp purple shirt and a cropped, fitted leather jacket, along with high-heeled black boots.

“Mrs May, are you _sure_ I’m allowed to borrow these?” Daisy asked, staring in wonder.

May got a glint in her eyes that could only be described as impish. “Who said anything about borrowing? It’s yours, if you want it. And another thing, call me May. The ‘Mrs’ makes me feel old.”

Daisy stood there, mouth hanging open rather like a goldfish. “I- wha- really? _Mine_? Thank you!!” she managed to get out.

“Don’t thank me, see if it looks alright first.” May gestured to the bathroom.

Daisy came out a minute later, twirling to admire the outfit. “I _love_ it!” she exclaimed.

“It does fit, doesn’t it?” May mused. “Come on, let’s see what we can do about your hair.”

While May was busy, Daisy asked a question she’d been wondering for a while. “May? If you and Coulson are married, how come you don’t have his surname?”

May paused in braiding Daisy’s hair for a second. “Well, I don’t legally have to, it’s not a _law_ , people just generally do it. I didn’t want to do something just because everyone else does it.” she explained. “Besides, I like my surname. ‘Melinda Coulson’ doesn’t really work, does it?”

“I suppose it doesn’t,” Daisy laughed, but internally she was impressed. May really _didn’t_ do anything just because she was told to.

A few minutes later, May finished fussing about Daisy’s hair. “I’m out of practice, I don’t usually do this kind of thing,” May admitted ruefully. “But it doesn’t look bad. Okay, Phil is going to drive you, just tell him where to go. And have fun!” May said, squeezing Daisy’s shoulder.

Daisy couldn’t help thinking that _this_ was what a mother was supposed to be.

But she banished that thought as quickly as it came.

As she went downstairs, Coulson appraised her outfit. “Daisy, you look amazing! Wasn’t this yours, Mel?”

May nodded proudly. “But it looks better on her, don’t you think?”

“It does look good...maybe too good. Are you sure the people there won’t try anything?” Coulson asked, suddenly frowning.

(Daisy noticed that he said ‘people’ and not ‘boys’, and she was almost overwhelmed by thankfulness toward him and May.)

May rolled her eyes fondly, punching him in the arm. “Phil, she’s _seventeen_. And she can take care of herself, I’m making sure of that.”

Daisy threw a grin at May over her shoulder, walking out to the car.

Coulson kissed May on the temple before joining Daisy outside, the two of them waving goodbye.

As they were nearing the club where the girls had agreed to meet, Coulson turned to Daisy. “Okay, I might not be your dad, but I have some rules.”

Daisy tilted her head and narrowed her eyes.

“No drugs, no sex, and not too much alcohol.”

At this, Daisy’s eyebrows all but disappeared into her hairline and she choked on air. “ _Coulson_! I’m _seventeen_!”

He just winked at her, stopping in front of the club. “Be safe, okay? I’ll come fetch you when you call me.”

Daisy thanked him, hopping out of the car. Coulson waited until she spotted Bobbi and Jemma and was safely with them, then drove away slowly.

\---

“Jems! Bob!” Daisy called, waving as her two friends saw her and came over.

“You made it, lil sis!” Bobbi hugged her, grinning widely. “And you look _fantastic_.”

Daisy bowed dramatically, straightening up with a mischievous grin. “Guess where I got the outfit?”

Jemma shrugged. “I don’t know, but I _am_ jealous. Come on, tell us!”

“ _Mrs May,_ ” Daisy proudly reported.

Bobbi and Jemma looked at each other, and then at Daisy. “Oh my god. Seriously?” Bobbi asked incredulously, fingering the sleeve of Daisy’s new leather jacket.

“Yes, seriously!” Daisy laughed. “But come on, let’s go in already.”

Jemma and Bobbi followed her, each thinking that they hadn’t seen her this happy in months.

They walked in to pulsing lights and dancing students, weaving their way through the mass of bodies alongside the dancefloor. This was everyone at Shield High’s favourite place to spend the weekend, it was almost always packed. Nicknamed The Boiler Room, it had been a favourite with the students for years.

Arriving at the bar, Jemma called the bartender. “Three virgin margaritas, please!” She frowned at Daisy and Bobbi’s disappointed looks. “We can’t legally drink, you _know_ that.”

Bobbi pouted. “I’m eighteen in a few months!”

“We’re _all_ eighteen in a few months, but you have to be _twenty-one_ for drinking to be legal, or do I have to remind you? They can’t serve us alcohol.” Jemma explained, rolling her eyes.

Tilting her head thoughtfully, Daisy snapped her fingers as an idea came to her. “We can ask somebody else to order for us!” At Jemma’s expression of horror, she added, “And we'll only have one shot each, just to enjoy the night.”

Jemma was about to complain, but Bobbi was already making her way over to one of the older students, her light blue dress catching the lights from the dancefloor and appearing purple. She came back a moment later with three shot glasses, smirking proudly. Handing one to each of her friends, she counted up. “Okay, on three!”

“One.”

“Two…”

“Three!”

The trio downed their shots, even Jemma, spluttering immediately at the burn. Daisy looked down at the glass in disgust. “Why do people drink this shit? It’s _horrible_!”

Jemma nodded rapidly, taking a gulp of her alcohol-free drink to rinse the taste from her mouth.

Pretty soon, though, all three felt very pleasantly warm and giggly. Bobbi’s stomach grumbled, to the apparent hilarity of Jemma and Daisy. “Should we get a pizza or two to share?” Jemma asked, ever the responsible one. “Alcohol is always better with food. Plus I’m _hungry_.”

They did, thanking the guy as he delivered it. As soon as they started eating, Daisy turned to Jemma with a mischievous grin. “So, Jem, have you and Fitzy gotten together yet?” she asked slyly.

Jemma immediately turned bright red and dropped the slice of pizza she’d been holding. “What are you talking about? _No_! Who says I even _want_ to ask him out, where did you get that idea? He’s my friend, and he doesn’t like _me_ or anything.” she babbled.

Bobbi smirked. “I think your reaction speaks for itself, sweetie.”

“And we’ve all seen your heart-eyes, haven’t we, _sestra_?” Daisy chimed in, fist-bumping Bobbi victoriously.

Jemma’s blush intensified, and she stammered, “ _Both_ of you? This is unfair, you can’t gang up on me!” She hid her face in her hands in a vain attempt to conceal her red cheeks.

“When it comes to teasing, _anything_ is allowed!” Bobbi proclaimed, swallowing the last gulp of her drink.

Jemma peeked out between her fingers, eyes suddenly bright. “Oh, so does that mean _I_ can tease _you_ about Hunter?”

Bobbi blanched. “That’s not what I meant-”

“Oh but I think it _is_ ,” Daisy laughed. “You’re just lucky we didn’t go into the library that time…but at least you’ve actually _done_ something about your feelings.” she added with a pointed look at Jemma, who rolled her eyes.

“Is it _really_ that obvious?”

Daisy and Bobbi stared at her.

“I hate to break it to you, honey, but it couldn’t be more obvious if you wore a sign saying _I’m in love with Leo Fitz!_ ” Bobbi told her, snickering.

Jemma laid her head on the table, eyes squeezed shut in embarrassment. “ _Really_?”

Daisy patted her on the shoulder with mock-sympathy. “ _Yes_ , really. And I _seriously_ want you two clueless idiots to get together, so do me a favour and just go kiss him already!”

“But...but he doesn’t like _me_ ,” Jemma said, her expression a mix between confused and sad.

Bobbi looked over at Daisy, who facepalmed. “Oh, sweetie.” the two of them said in unison. “Fitz is as ridiculously in love with you as you are with him!” Bobbi went on.

Jemma frowned. “Are you…are you _sure_?” When Daisy and Bobbi nodded encouragingly her face gradually lit up in a smile. She made as if to get up, but Daisy pulled her down.

“Whoah, whoah, you can do that later! It’s Ladies Night, remember?” she laughed, and Jemma sat back down with a guilty grin.

The rest of the night passed in much the same manner, the three of them teasing, laughing and dancing. (True to her word, Daisy didn’t have anything else to drink but water.)

Finally, Bobbi’s phone rang with a call from her mum. After hanging up, she looked at the other two apologetically. “Sorry, Rockstar. I need to leave, and we’re taking Jemma home. It _is_ eleven, so my mom was wondering where I was.”

Daisy nodded, fishing out her phone as well. “Okay, yeah. I’ll just pay, and call Coulson to tell him I’m ready to go.”

Jemma and Bobbi exchanged a look, and silently agreed to ask Daisy about that another time. It would probably be a touchy subject, and she was having too much fun to ruin it for her tonight.

Daisy called the waiter, paying quickly with the money the Plumbers had left her. (They _had_ left it for her, after all.)

Ten minutes later, Daisy hugged her friends goodbye tightly. “See you on Monday!” she called, waving, and got into Lola’s front seat.

“Did you have a good time?” Coulson asked, smiling gently at her.

Daisy sat back in the comfortable leather seats, a sappy grin on her face as she thought about her two friends.

“The _best_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you goooooo!!! Some development, right? But let me tell you, the next chapter is my FAVOURITE that I have planned so far! Now I just need to get around to writing it, ahahha. *nervous laughter* 
> 
> As always I'd love to hear your thoughts :D <333

**Author's Note:**

> Any and all feedback appreciated! <3


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